Cresta de Gallo, Philippines, was our dream. As soon as we saw the first photo of this island in the Philippines a few years ago, we fell completely in love. How do you get there? What can you do in this paradise? The questions tormented us and we couldn’t find much information on the internet, because the truth is that few people take a trip to the Philippines and venture into this part of the country.
After thorough research and a very long journey from Coron to Tablas and then on to Romblon and Sibuyan—which included a pneumonia diagnosis (with a lightning trip back to Manila paid for by the insurance, we tell you more here) and a low-pressure system that canceled boats—we arrived at what has become one of our best islands in the Philippines (if not the very best).
If you also dream of visiting paradise islands in the Philippines with hardly any tourism, have enough time in your itinerary (you’ll see this is very important), and fancy a bit of adventure, you’ve come to the right place! Here we’re going to tell you everything about Cresta de Gallo, Philippines: where it is, how to get there, and everything you need to visit it.
Where is Cresta de Gallo?
Cresta de Gallo belongs to the province of Romblon. It sits in the Sibuyan Sea, southeast of the island of the same name, and the closest town is tiny Azagra. There are no houses or shops or restaurants on Cresta de Gallo, just a small caretaker’s house.
Why the name “Cresta de Gallo”? Our bangkero told us that the island was given that name because from a distance its small hills reminded them of a rooster’s comb. Easy enough, right? Thanks to Macario (our drone), we saw a very defined comb shape from the air. Don’t you think so?
How to get to Cresta de Gallo, Philippines?
The only way to reach Cresta de Gallo, Philippines, is by getting to Sibuyan. Follow the steps in How to get to Sibuyan. From there, you’ll need to go to Azagra, where the “port” is located from which the boats to Sibuyan depart.
To get to Azagra, the best thing after arriving at Sibuyan’s port is to head to San Fernando. To do so, take a jeepney in Magdiwang (where boats from Romblon arrive) in the direction of San Fernando. It will rarely take less than 2 hours. There are usually a couple a day, coinciding with the arrival and departure of the boats. The price is around 100 pesos. A tricycle will charge you about 500 pesos for the whole route.
Once in Azagra, you’ll need to negotiate a bangka (the local boat) to Cresta de Gallo. The trip from Azagra to Cresta de Gallo takes about 1 hour, depending on sea conditions.
A few days earlier, in Romblon, we got the contact for a very nice local boatman who took us (together with his deckhand) in his bangka called María Pamela. Guess what he left us when we arrived on the island—a pair of sun hats! That’s why we’ve got some photos pure instagrammer-style.
The trip to Cresta de Gallo
We set out around 9:00 and came back when we wanted, around 15:00. If you feel like it, you can also leave later and return after sunset. The truth is, as we were told (and verified), the sea gets a little rougher after midday. Plus, if you want to see the island in all its splendor, we suggest checking the tides in Sibuyan so your time on Cresta de Gallo coincides with low tide.
We paid 1,500 pesos (€25) between the two of us. The bangka could fit at least 4 more people, so the price is more than fair even for two travelers. Food and drinks weren’t included, so we’d ordered them the day before at our favorite spot in Cajidiocan, Duane’s Burger Hauz. That vegetarian pancit they made for us tasted glorious on Cresta de Gallo.
* Since 2020 prices have increased. The association of bangkeros in Sibuyan has raised it to 2,500 per boat for up to 5 people (3,000 if you stay overnight on the island) and 3,000 for 6 to 10 people (3,500 to stay overnight).
When is the best time to visit Cresta de Gallo?
If you want to enjoy this Filipino paradise, we recommend doing so from March to May, when the waters are calmer and you’re more likely to have good weather. Even so, throughout the Romblon area, the dry season is roughly from November to May. In Best time to travel to the Philippines we tell you more.
We visited Cresta de Gallo, Philippines, in February and, as you can see, we had extraordinary weather.
What to do in Cresta de Gallo?
Before you even set foot on the island you’ll be blown away, we promise. Pasik gave us a reconnaissance loop by boat around all of Cresta de Gallo. I swear that, no matter how many beaches and islands I’ve visited, I had never seen such an enormous variety of shades of blue. Seriously, I felt like I’d reached paradise on earth.
What else can you do in Cresta de Gallo besides marveling? Here’s a list:
- Walk the island end to end: (using the word again) you’re going to freak out at Cresta de Gallo’s three sandspits. Since there are hardly any trees or huts, it’s a bit tiring to cover it all, but in 20 minutes you can go from one end to the other.
- Swim in true paradise: our favorite bathing spots were at the southern tip and the northwestern one.
- Go snorkeling: if you bring your mask and snorkel, don’t hesitate! The island is surrounded by coral in good condition.
- Take 1,947,014,170,742 million photos of what is possibly one of the most beautiful islands in the Philippines—and think about how to move here.
Where to stay to visit Cresta de Gallo?
Sibuyan is a large island and many of its roads aren’t 100% paved, which means journeys are quite long. In our opinion, there are two places to spend the night before or after visiting Cresta de Gallo: Cajidiocan and San Fernando. Both are small towns with a small selection of hotels and restaurants, but more than enough for a few days.
Cajidiocan is farther from Azagra, but we chose it because it was simpler to get there from Magdiwang (where the port is that receives boats from Romblon). We were amazed because there’s a fairly large community of retired Germans who have found their peace here and meet up for dinner (one night we joined their circle and ate German potato salad in a place in the middle of nowhere in the Philippines). We stayed in an Airbnb there, but honestly we don’t recommend it because we had a few issues with the owner…
Our recommendation is that, even if it takes a little longer to get there, you stay in San Fernando. From there it’s easier to get to Cresta de Gallo, there are things to do in the surroundings, and you’ve got a couple of places to sleep:
- Seabreeze Inn: basic rooms with air conditioning for 800 pesos. They rent motorbikes for 500 pesos per day.
- Beach House Sibuyan: whole house with kitchen for just €20 per night located in San Fernando.
- Bungalow auf Sibuyan: rental of an entire house near Azagra for €20. The owner is German—hence the name.
Our tips for visiting Cresta de Gallo
Want to visit Cresta de Gallo? Here are some recommendations:
- Try to visit the island Monday through Thursday. When we went there was only one more boat with a Filipino family. It’s still a somewhat remote place and receives hardly any visitors, but it’s normal for people from Sibuyan to want to spend the weekend there. If you want to feel like a castaway, visit Cresta de Gallo, Philippines, on a weekday.
- Try to organize your trip the day before. It’s not like there are loads of boats waiting for you in Azagra. We contacted our boatman by SMS.
- There’s an ATM in Cajidiocan, but don’t rely on it too much—it’s better to come with cash from Romblon.
- Bring plenty of sunscreen. There isn’t much shade on the island and you’ll want to make the most of it. As we explain in Backpack for the Philippines, please use biodegradable sunscreen so as not to damage the coral.
- Bring enough food and water; there’s nothing on the island.
- If you’re thinking of staying overnight on Cresta de Gallo (which can be epic), you’ll have to bring your own tent. It’s allowed. There are some ultra-basic huts (no sheets or anything—bring something warm, as it can get cool) for 500 pesos per night. You can ask your boatman to see how he can arrange it for you.
- We found Cresta de Gallo spotlessly clean. The caretakers probably do a good job picking up the trash the sea brings in. Please travel with your own bag and don’t leave any type of waste on the island. If you see something, pick it up and help keep it just as beautiful.
Is it worth going to Cresta de Gallo?
The words that appear most in this article about Cresta de Gallo are paradise, best island, freak out, and epic, so you can already imagine how much we liked this little piece of land. And if we still haven’t convinced you, take a look at this video:
We loved going to Cresta de Gallo. No matter how many times we’ve visited the Philippines, no matter how hard it was to get there, the feeling we had when we first glimpsed this beautiful island will always stay with us.
Cresta de Gallo is a wonder that few people still know. Although it gets more visitors every year (there are even some umbrellas and chairs now, and the odd flag), getting here is still almost an odyssey, so we don’t think it will get crowded for a looooong time. Even so, we recommend going as soon as possible because little by little more people are coming, including even a couple of cruises each year. Honestly, it might be one of the most beautiful islands you’ll ever see.
Do we recommend going to Cresta de Gallo, Philippines? Absolutely yes, BUT being fully aware of the effort it takes to get here. Plus, we couldn’t imagine a trip to Cresta de Gallo without visiting other places in Sibuyan and Romblon. The latter, especially, as you know, won us over. A trip through the Romblon island group is a fabulous overall experience: barely developed islands with gorgeous empty beaches and thousands of nooks where you can get lost far from the usual tourist spots in the Philippines.
For all these reasons, we suggest going to Cresta de Gallo if you have at least 8–9 days to get to the Romblon area and enjoy all these places we recommend in the Romblon Guide and the Sibuyan Guide.
If you want to visit beautiful sandbars, there are loads of them in the Philippines. We still haven’t found any that reach the level of Cresta de Gallo, and all the ones we’ve visited receive quite a bit of tourism, but they’re just as pretty. Examples of islands of this style in the Philippines are:
- Kalanggaman
- White Island (Camiguin)
- Naked Island (Siargao)
- Kawhagan Island (Siargao)
- Snake Island (El Nido)
- Bulog Dos (Coron)
- Cabugao Gamal Island (Gigantes Islands)
- Manyujod White Sandbar (Dumaguete)
You can read more about them in Best sandbars in the Philippines.
Getting to Cresta de Gallo, Philippines, isn’t easy, but it’s worth it.
Do you want to know anything else about the island of Cresta de Gallo in the Philippines? Did we leave anything out? Ask us in the comments!
